{"id":3138,"date":"2016-05-14T20:02:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T02:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3138"},"modified":"2016-05-14T20:05:29","modified_gmt":"2016-05-15T02:05:29","slug":"giving-to-god-what-is-his","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3138","title":{"rendered":"Giving to God, What He Has Given to Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ken_Mark<\/a>This morning our Allies breakfast guest was Mark Johnson, sports director from KOA radio and voice of the Colorado Buffaloes. Mark did a great job and it was good to give him a copy of my book. This afternoon, I went to Greeley to connect with my niece, Kate and her boyfriend David for a strongman competition. It was fun to be there and see the action, even in the midst of some cold weather. (picture of me with Mark Johnson and Jim Szakmeister)<\/p>\n

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…<\/strong> “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand.\u00a0<\/span>For we live before You as foreigners and temporary residents…Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.” <\/span><\/em>1 Chronicles 29:14-15 HCSB<\/p>\n

In the building of the temple, we see some important concepts about giving to the Lord. There are many verses in the Bible about giving. We read, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”<\/em> (Acts 20:35) “The Lord loves a cheerful giver.”<\/em> (2 Corinthians 9:7) “Give and it shall be given…”<\/em> (Luke 6:38) We find that there is a spiritual dynamic in “giving to the Lord” that goes beyond other acts of human generosity or philanthropy. We can observe the truths of the New Testament in the life of David.<\/p>\n

1 – Giving is sacrifice, therefore it costs<\/strong>. “…the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.”<\/em> (2 Samuel 24:24 NLT)
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When the plague was stopped that resulted from David’s counting the fighting men of Israel, David was instructed to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. It was to be on the threshing floor of a man by the name of Araunah. Araunah, offered for David to “just take it.” But David realized the most important aspect of giving, “it isn’t true giving if there is no surrender or sacrifice on my part.”<\/p>\n

It is always interesting to observe what people are eager to buy with their “hard earned money” but how reluctant they are to invest in the cause of the kingdom of God. When I give without any personal benefit it involves a sacrifice on my part. That is at the heart of godly giving.<\/p>\n

2 – Everyone can give<\/strong>. Not everyone can give the same amount, but all can give something. In the New Testament we read of the widows mite. Her smalls gift was actually greater because it was all she had! In Chronicles, we see David asking the people to give, but leading in giving to inspire and encourage the people. Giving together connect us in partnership with other people for a common cause.<\/p>\n

3 – We give what God has already given us.\u00a0 <\/strong>“…we have given You only what comes from Your own hand.” <\/span><\/em>How many times has a parent given a child an ice cream cone or a cookie and then asks the child, “can I have a bite?” The child says, “No! it is mine.” The parent thinks, “you have no idea where this came from, how can you be so ungrateful!?” I wonder if God views our lives and reactions in the same way? <\/span><\/p>\n

David underscores this principle, “…<\/em>all this wealth that we\u2019ve provided for building You a house for Your holy name comes from Your hand; everything belongs to You.”<\/em> (1 Chronicles 29:16 HCSB) Moses reminded God’s people, “…remember that the Lord<\/span> your God gives you the strength to make a living.”\u00a0<\/em>(Deuteronomy 8:18 CEV) David declared in his prayer, “…it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all.” <\/span><\/em> <\/span>(1 Chronicles 29:12 HCSB)<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

4 – Giving provides perspective and direction for our lives.<\/strong> David prayed to the Lord, “You test the heart and that You are pleased with what is right. I have willingly given all these things with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You….<\/span><\/em>keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the hearts of Your people, and confirm their hearts toward You.”<\/em> (1 Chronicles 29:17,18 HCSB)<\/span><\/p>\n

We see that the Lord wants our hearts to be true toward Him and for our actions align with the profession of our mouth. It is also important to give with the eternal in view, “Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

5 – The praise and the privilege of giving.<\/strong> “<\/em>But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You…”<\/em> (1 Chronicles 29:14 HCSB) David recognized generous giving was possible because of the Lord’s blessing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Consider David’s words of praise, “May You be praised, Lord<\/span> God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity.<\/span> Yours, Lord<\/span>, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, Lord<\/span>, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all<\/span>…<\/em>Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name.”\u00a0<\/em> (1 Chronicles 29:10-11,13 HCSB) “Then David said to the whole assembly, \u201cPraise the Lord<\/span> your God.\u201d<\/span><\/em> (1 Chronicles 29:20 HCSB)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Generous giving results in lavish praise. It is a recognition of the provision of the Lord, the hearts of God’s people and rejoicing over what has been accomplished. God’s plan of success and achievement still remains today as it is seen in the Bible.<\/p>\n

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This morning our Allies breakfast guest was Mark Johnson, sports director from KOA radio and voice of the Colorado Buffaloes. Mark did a great job and it was good to give him a copy of my book. This afternoon, I went to Greeley to connect with my niece, Kate and her boyfriend David for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3138"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3141,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3138\/revisions\/3141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}